Retiring GOP reps frustrate leadership

House Republican leaders might be forgiven for thinking that retiring rank-and-file Republicans would soften the blow caused by their departures by casting some cost-free votes down the party line.

But they would be mistaken.

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Republican Reps. Vito J. Fossella of New York, Ray LaHood of Illinois, Jim Ramstad of Minnesota, Ralph Regula of Ohio and Jim Walsh of New York all crossed party lines recently to join with Democrats on a tight vote to extend unemployment insurance — even though they won't be around to suffer the potential political consequences of voting no. After two contentious votes in which key retiring Republicans defected, the plan ultimately passed the following week in a lesser form as a bipartisan compromise attached to the war funding bill.

Retiring Republicans crossed over to vote with Democrats last week on federal parental leave and in previous weeks on union authority, expanded children's health insurance, women's rights and an expansive new GI Bill. Outgoing Republican Reps. Dave Hobson and Deborah Pryce of Ohio, Rick Renzi of Arizona, Tom Davis of Virginia and Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland have all bucked the party on key votes.

"It's not helpful," said a frustrated Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), "and you can use that quote."

Insiders and members of Congress say there are many reasons that independent-minded Republicans might continue to buck their party on the way out the door. Some members may want to show that they can work across the aisle — a useful résumé-builder for those looking for jobs lobbying a Democrat-controlled Congress. Others — particularly those who represent swing districts — may think that they can help a potential Republican successor by straying from the party line now and then.

Walsh said that, while whipping, leadership doesn't refer "overtly" to his pending retirement and his resulting cost-free votes but that "it might be implied."

"I've always taken the view that however I vote — whether it's popular or unpopular — I need to be able to explain why I voted that way," Walsh said. He said he still needs to be able to justify his votes to his constituents back home, even if he's not asking them to reelect him.

But Walsh's needs may conflict with those of vulnerable Republicans who would like to stick around for another term. When the soon-to-retire flee the party line in droves — as they did last week on a bill that would have extended unemployment benefits for jobless workers — other members can feel stuck casting votes that they, too, might prefer to avoid.

At least eight retiring Republicans joined Democrats last November during a bitter fight to pass a funding bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. President Bush's subsequent veto was sustained by a mere three votes; seven retiring members joined Democrats in the override vote, meaning Republican leadership needed vulnerable members to vote with the president against funding for nurses, schools and other politically popular programs.